Chef Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides AI assistants with read-only access to Chef Server data including nodes, roles, cookbooks, data bags, environments, and more.

CI License: MIT

Features

• Read-only Chef Server access via Chef API
• Multi-organization support with aliases and defaults
• Comprehensive Chef data access: nodes, roles, users, cookbooks, data bags, environments
• Search capabilities with both decoded and raw JSON results
• Docker-based deployment for easy installation
• MCP protocol compliance for seamless AI assistant integration

Configuration

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Description
CHEF_USER	Yes	Chef username for API authentication
CHEF_KEY_PATH	Yes	Path to Chef private key file (.pem)
CHEF_SERVER_URL	Yes	Chef Server base URL (without organization path)
CHEF_DEFAULT_ORG	No	Default organization to use when none specified
CHEF_ORG_ALIASES	No	Organization aliases in JSON or key=value format

Organization Support

The server supports multiple organizations through:

• Default organization: Set via CHEF_DEFAULT_ORG
• Organization aliases: Set via CHEF_ORG_ALIASES (e.g., "qa=qa1,prod=fireamp_classic")
• Per-request organization: Specify in individual MCP tool calls

IDE Integration

Visual Studio Code

Add to your VSCode settings (.vscode/settings.json or global settings):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "chef-server": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "--rm", "-i",
        "--env", "CHEF_USER=your-username",
        "--env", "CHEF_KEY_PATH=/chef/your-username.pem",
        "--env", "CHEF_SERVER_URL=https://your-chef-server.com/",
        "--env", "CHEF_ORG_ALIASES=qa=qa1,prod=production",
        "--env", "CHEF_DEFAULT_ORG=qa1",
        "--volume", "/path/to/.chef:/chef:ro",
        "ghcr.io/aknarts/chef-server-mcp:latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

GitHub Copilot

Add to your Copilot configuration:

{
  "servers": {
    "chef-server": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "--rm", "-i",
        "--env", "CHEF_USER=your-username",
        "--env", "CHEF_KEY_PATH=/chef/your-username.pem",
        "--env", "CHEF_SERVER_URL=https://your-chef-server.com/",
        "--env", "CHEF_ORG_ALIASES=qa=qa1,prod=production",
        "--env", "CHEF_DEFAULT_ORG=qa1",
        "--volume", "/path/to/your/.chef:/chef:ro",
        "ghcr.io/aknarts/chef-server-mcp:latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Important Notes:

• The --volume flag maps your local .chef directory to /chef inside the container
• The CHEF_KEY_PATH must point to the file path inside the container (e.g., /chef/your-username.pem)
• Make sure the volume path matches your actual local .chef directory location

Available Tools

Tool	Description
listNodes	List all node names
getNode	Get detailed node information
listRoles	List all role names
getRole	Get role definition and run lists
listUsers	List all user names
getUser	Get user details
search	Execute Chef search queries (decoded results)
searchJSON	Execute Chef search queries (raw JSON results)
getOrganization	Get organization details
listCookbooks	List cookbooks and their versions
getCookbook	Get cookbook metadata and files
listDataBags	List all data bag names
listDataBagItems	List items in a data bag
getDataBagItem	Get specific data bag item
listEnvironments	List all environments
getEnvironment	Get environment configuration

All tools support optional organization parameter for multi-org setups.

Development

For development instructions, building from source, and contributing guidelines, see DEVELOPMENT.md.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.